> “In physics, description is explanation” (author quoting his PhD advisor)
Yes, i have always hated this about physics. It is the only scientific field that apparently feels no responsibility to explain “why”, deciding that “what” is sufficient.
I wish the author all success so that i can someday read a satisfying answer to some of the “whys” of physics.
It's not that physics feels no responsibility to explain why, it's that all other fields of science answer the why by punting to some lower level of science that is taken as an assumption until you get down to physics which has nothing lower level to punt to.
Psychology explains why you feel tired by pointing to biology. Biology explains why cells need ATP by pointing to chemistry. Chemistry explains why ATP releases energy by pointing to physics. Physics explains that by pointing to some higher level form of physics like thermodynamics, which points to statistical mechanics, which point to quantum laws. When you get down to a certain level you simply have nothing left to punt to. You simply accept it because it's what's observed and makes reproducible predictions or you don't and go study philosophy or religion or something.
Yeah you’re right. And also part of it is that I simply don’t know enough deep physics to maybe start to get a more “intuitive” grasp on things.
But on the other hand I do feel there are cases where other fields have true explanations without punting. It’s not all the time but sometimes. My favorite example is evolution. We observe evidence that species evolve over long periods. Why? Natural selection. It’s the entire explanation. And I suppose in some senses it punts on the mechanisms of natural selection - genes and molecular biology rest on physics and chemistry after all. But in terms of the why, why does evolution happen, I feel we have a complete answer that has that feeling of intellectual satisfaction and completeness that is, at least from my lay perspective, lacking in physics.
daishi55 · · focus · HN ↗
> “In physics, description is explanation” (author quoting his PhD advisor)
Yes, i have always hated this about physics. It is the only scientific field that apparently feels no responsibility to explain “why”, deciding that “what” is sufficient.
I wish the author all success so that i can someday read a satisfying answer to some of the “whys” of physics.
Maxatar · · focus · HN ↗
Psychology explains why you feel tired by pointing to biology. Biology explains why cells need ATP by pointing to chemistry. Chemistry explains why ATP releases energy by pointing to physics. Physics explains that by pointing to some higher level form of physics like thermodynamics, which points to statistical mechanics, which point to quantum laws. When you get down to a certain level you simply have nothing left to punt to. You simply accept it because it's what's observed and makes reproducible predictions or you don't and go study philosophy or religion or something.
daishi55 · · focus · HN ↗
But on the other hand I do feel there are cases where other fields have true explanations without punting. It’s not all the time but sometimes. My favorite example is evolution. We observe evidence that species evolve over long periods. Why? Natural selection. It’s the entire explanation. And I suppose in some senses it punts on the mechanisms of natural selection - genes and molecular biology rest on physics and chemistry after all. But in terms of the why, why does evolution happen, I feel we have a complete answer that has that feeling of intellectual satisfaction and completeness that is, at least from my lay perspective, lacking in physics.